It's official.
Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters had the best season of any rookie defensive player in the NFL as he was named the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year during the NFL Honors show on Saturday night.
The show was hosted by Conan O' Brien and was held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California.
This prestigious award is voted upon by 50 media members around the country who cover the NFL.
Peters becomes the fourth player in franchise history to win the award (Bill Maas - 1984, Derrick Thomas - 1989, Dale Carter - 1992).
Only linebacker Derrick Johnson (1,060) and defensive back Ron Parker (1,055) played more snaps for the Chiefs defense last season than Peters (1,036), who capped off a phenomenal rookie season with a trip to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii last week.
The Chiefs selected Peters with the No. 18 overall pick in the first round out of Washington.
Here's what legendary NFL personnel man and now NFL.com analyst Gil Brandt had to say about Peters' rookie season:
Peters was leaps and bounds better than all other defensive rookies
*Marcus Peters** tied for the league lead with 8 interceptions. Last year, as a team, the *Chiefs* only had 6 interceptions. Peters ranked fifth among defensive backs in lowest burn percentage, getting beat on just 62 of 134 throws (46 percent). For a comparison, the *Carolina Panthers*' *Josh Norman* was burned 49 percent of the time. Peters also ranked second in the NFL with 26 passes defensed. His 280 return yards on interceptions were more than double the next-best total -- 136 yards by the *St. Louis Rams*' *Trumaine Johnson*, who had 7 interceptions. **
There were a lot of impressive rookies on defense, but Peters was clearly the best.*
Only five times since 1986 has a rookie led or tied for the league lead in interceptions, and only six times since 1970 has a single player produced more interceptions than his team did as a whole in the previous season.
A look at Marcus Peters through the 2015 season.
From the very first day he stepped on the field for the Chiefs at minicamp, to his first reps in pads at training camp, to the first regular season snap of his career down in Houston, to his first game at Arrowhead Stadium, to his first *playoff game and then the *first Pro Bowl game of his career—Peters showed everyone that he was a playmaker.
Now, Peters has officially been recognized as the NFL's best defensive rookie in 2015, but don't expect his mindset to change.
"I'm just here to get my respect," he said earlier this season. "It's not given; it's earned."
